Palo Duro Canyon State Park: “Texas” – the Musical

Final Picture

For our last evening, we had planned to see the musical “Texas”, which is being performed in the amphitheatre down on the canyon floor during summertime. We had already nosed around some in this place in the afternoon. The whole area was well presented and kept, with an (artificial) creek. It was a pleasure for the senses to listen to it and watch the water cascading down the little waterfalls. My only hope is that they re-use the water by pumping it up again instead of letting it seep into the ground.

In the evening then we drove down, first for our supper at the amphitheatre. That was something you could book in addition to the show: chuck-wagon dinner. It was “good ol’ Texas Barbeque”, I’d say, with all the trimmings, and with quite generous portions of brisket and pulled pork. We enjoyed it. After that we strolled around some more and then we went to see the show:

My impression of this performance [praise and criticism]: we liked the show itself very much. It was a colourful and entertaining show, especially the chorus, dance, and ballet scenes, with mostly good singers. Not quite fitting, to my mind, was the title “Texas”, as the story told – and that was interestingly and pleasingly presented – was about the problems of settling in this region in general and of the canyon in particular, by (white) cattlemen and farmers, especially Charles Goodnight.

It was three items, though, that I didn’t like at all: for one there were fireworks at the end of the performance that made all of the canyon reverberate for more than five minutes with the enormously loud bangs. I had to think all the time of how frightened all of the wildlife down there must have been. I consider this absolutely impossible in a nature park! The same is true for the waterworks at the end, when gigantic jets of water were shot high up into the air. It did look really wonderful, of course, when these were lit up by colourful beams of light, but something like that in an area where every single drop of water is precious? Well, I must admit I don’t know if they collect and re-use this water again. Maybe they do. I also didn’t like the nationalistic-militaristic end of the show [which, btw, was not in the paly when it was conceived, but only added at a much later stage]. By God I have nothing against – to the contrary – honouring veterans and fallen soldiers, but to at the end of the show for quite some time praising the military in general and the different branches in particular with flags, music, and bombastic words struck and still strikes me as inappropriate. Not only inappropriate, but, considering zeal shown there, (almost) frightening.

I’m wondering what it would kie to have the show in broad daylight, with that grandiose backdrop. But then, I think it would be unbearable for the spectators, sitting in the open, in the blazing sun.
The canyon is really gorgeous to the max!

I held it in my hand, out of the passenger side window, while Mary drove. The video had enormous wind noise as I had forgotten to switch off the microphone. But I was able to figure out how to get rid of that and supplant it with the music.

Nevertheless, it must have been an interesting evening – and your last sentence confirms it!
But I am with you on the use of fireworks in a national park, the wasteful use of water and, most of all, the display of nationalistic-militaristic patriotism.